RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 The Ligands of Estrogen Receptor α Regulate Cytochrome P4502C9 (CYP2C9) Expression JF Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO J Pharmacol Exp Ther FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 302 OP 309 DO 10.1124/jpet.110.175075 VO 338 IS 1 A1 Jessica Mwinyi A1 Isa Cavaco A1 Begum Yurdakok A1 Souren Mkrtchian A1 Magnus Ingelman-Sundberg YR 2011 UL http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/338/1/302.abstract AB Cytochrome P4502C9 (CYP2C9) is an important drug-metabolizing enzyme responsible for the metabolism of approximately 16% of all clinically relevant drugs. It was shown previously that the activity of CYP2C9 in vivo is inhibited by oral contraceptives. The mechanisms of this effect have not been elucidated. We hypothesize that this may occur because of the sex steroid-dependent activation of estrogen receptor α (ERα) with further transactivation of the CYP2C9 gene. Here, we show that the CYP2C9 promoter indeed contains a functionally relevant estrogen responsive element (ERE) half-site at position −149/−145. Its ERα binding activity was tested by the luciferase gene reporter assay. Promoter constructs bearing this site were cotransfected with ERα into Huh7 hepatoma cells and treated with various ERα ligands including 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT), raloxifene (R), 17β-estradiol (EE), and 17α-ethinylestradiol (ETE). The luciferase activity driven by the wild-type CYP2C9 promoter construct was up-regulated by 4-OHT and R and significantly or marginally suppressed by ETE and EE, respectively. An identical effect was observed in primary hepatocytes treated with these compounds. Mutations introduced into the ERE half-site abolished the observed effects in the Huh7 cells. Electrophoretic mobility-shift assay revealed sequence-specific binding of a nuclear protein to the oligonucleotide containing the ERE half-site, which was identified as ERα by antibody supershift analysis. In addition, the association of ERα with CYP2C9 promoter was strongly supported by chromatin immunoprecipitation data. Taken together, these results indicate that ERα and its ligands play an important role in the regulation of CYP2C9 expression.